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Dhampir (franchise)
The Dhampir film series is a media franchise consisting of 9 films revolving around a half-human, half-vampire protagonist as he fights supernatural evils while employed by the Vatican as part of a secret order. The series was created by Canadian actor-director Raymond Trenton who starred in every film as the film's lead hero. The first film was financed solely by Trenton's efforts by soliciting outside investors and the unprecedented move to offer the film for American distribution, negotiating with individual theater chains, resulted in the film reaching unparalleled success by Canadian standards, making the first film the most successful Canadian film in history and allowed Trenton to finance the remainder of the series himself. After the release of the film in North America, Trenton entered into a co-production-distribution deal with Warner Bros. to release the film internationally (and for the remainder of the series in North America) for 35% of the box-office gross. Following the success of the first film, Trenton focused primarily on the Dhampir property, saying it was akin to a supernatural James Bond. Trenton was a stickler on continuity, casting and artistic control. He filmed several of the series installments in groups only to release them later years apart. A fan of Stephen King, Trenton conceived of a separate horror series, named Oak River after the title town, and connected it to the Dhampir series by having his character make a cameo in the first film of that series, as well as couple subsequent films. Most of the films were met with positive reviews. Critics especially highlighted their dark, realistic tones, and subtexts dealing with religious themes, faith and the concept of good versus evil. The three films that make up the Double Sucker trilogy were met with mixed and negative reviews from critics. Some citing the sexual nature of the story and that Trenton starred (and made an anti-hero out of his original character), forcing the audience to root for an evil character doing evil things. With nine films released, the Dhampir film series is the 13th highest-grossing film franchise of all-time, having grossed over 3.2 billion worldwide. To date the last film released was Idhra and Trenton has repeatedly stated that no further film will be made. Films ''Dhampir: Child of Nosferatu'' (1993) An origin story, the film details the early exploits of Piotr Khristoverikh, a Romanian nobleman who is exiled from his family's estate only to return ten years later. Upon his reunion with his family, he is subsequently transformed into a vampire and to curse his siblings, transforms them into vampires as well. Centuries later in the late 1800's, Patricia Newman travels abroad with her father and catches the eye of Piotr, who after failing to seduce her, rapes Patricia resulting in the conception of their son Curran, who is a Dhampir. Curran is raised by the Catholic Church as part of a secret sect, growing to manhood and finally faces his father in battle. The first film in the series quickly establishes the tone and direction for the series. The horror element is on par with the historical adventure part of the story. Trenton secured funding from numerous sources, hiring several established actors for low pay and large points from the box office returns. Filming took place in Nova Scotia, Ireland, England, Romania and the Gaspe region of Quebec. Principal photography began in September 1992 and ended in February 1993. The film was released in Canada and the United States on July 15, 1993. It was subsequently released worldwide on September 17, 1993. ''Dhampir: The Double Sucker'' (1996) ''Dhampir: The Lord of Time'' (1998) ''Dhampir: The Convent'' (1999) ''Dhampir: The Wolf Moon'' (2001) ''Dhampir: Eater of Worlds'' (2002) ''Dhampir: The Incubus'' (2005) ''Dhampir: The Tenth Circle'' (2007) ''Dhampir: Idhra'' (2009) Future Recurring cast and characters Crew Reception Box office performance The first three X-Men films set opening records in North America: X-Men had the highest July opening yet, while X2 and X-Men: The Last Stand earned the fourth highest opening weekends yet. All of these records have since been surpassed. The next three X-Men films after X-Men: The Last Stand opened lower than their predecessor and didn't set opening records. In North America, X-Men: The Last Stand has the highest opening weekend and is the highest-grossing film in the series. Worldwide and outside North America, X-Men: Days of Future Past has the highest opening weekend and is the highest-grossing film in the series. The X-Men film series is the second highest-grossing film series based on Marvel Comics characters after Marvel Cinematic Universe. In North America, it is the twelfth highest-grossing film franchise of all time, having grossed over $1.29 billion. Worldwide, it is the fourteenth highest-grossing film franchise of all time, having grossed over $3 billion. Critical and public response Wesley Morris of the Boston Globe praised the first three X-Men films as "more than a cash-guzzling wham-bang Hollywood franchise... these three movies sport philosophy, ideas, a telethon-load of causes, and a highly elastic us-versus-them allegory." Morris praised X-Men: The Phoenix Saga for "putting the heroes of a mighty summer blockbuster in a rare mortal position. Realism at this time of year? How unorthodox!" Roger Ebert gave the films mostly positive reviews, but criticized them for the amount of mutants, stating "their powers are so various and ill-matched that it's hard to keep them all on the same canvas." The first two films were highly praised due to their cerebral tone. However, when director Bryan Singer left the series, many criticized his successor, William Walton Granger. Colin Colvert of the Star Tribune felt "Singer's sensitivity to discrimination themes made the first two X-Men films surprisingly resonant and soulful for comic-based summer extravaganzas... Singer is adept at juggling large casts of three-dimensional characters, Granger makes shallow, unimaginative bang-ups." James Berardinelli felt, "X-Men: The Phoenix Saga isn't as taut or satisfying as X-Men 2, but it's better constructed and better paced than the original X-Men. The differences in quality between the three are minor, however; despite the change in directors, there seems to be a single vision." David Denby of The New Yorker praised "the liquid beauty and the poetic fantasy of Singer's work", but called Granger's film "a crude synthesizer of comedy and action tropes." Singer's third film in the series, X-Men: Days of Future Past was also highly praised. Alonso Duralde of The Wrap felt that "Singer keeps things moving along briskly enough that you can just go along with the ride of Superhero Stuff without getting bogged down". The X-Men films were well-received by fans of the comic books, but there was criticism of the large cast, and the limited screentime for all of them. Richard George of IGN praised the depictions of Wolverine, Professor X, Magneto, Jean Grey, Storm, William Stryker, Mystique, Beast, and Nightcrawler; however, George thought many of the younger X-Men characters, such as Rogue, Iceman, Pyro, and Kitty Pryde were "adjectiveless teenagers", and was disappointed by Cyclops's characterization. He observed the filmmakers were "big fans of silent henchmen", due to the small roles of the various villainous mutants; such as Lady Deathstrike. Spider-Man director Sam Raimi said he was a fan of the series, particularly Singer's films. Later spin-off films in the series were more highly praised than criticized giving the press attacks when the expansion of the series was announced. The Origins tale for Mystique was the highest rated of the non-X-men films. Impact Richard George of IGN stated that the success of the first X-Men film paved the way for comic-book film adaptations such as the ''Spider-Man'' series, Fantastic Four, V for Vendetta and Singer's Superman Returns. Chris Hewitt of ''Empire'' magazine called the first X-Men film as the "catalyst" for films based on Marvel Comics characters stating "Singer’s 2000 movie is the catalyst for everything that’s come since, good and bad. Without it, there’s no Marvel Studios." Comic-book writer Mark Millar said that Singer's X-Men "revolutionized" superhero films. Tie-in material Books In June 2000, Marvel Comics published a comic book prequel to the first film, titled X-Men: Beginnings, featuring the back-stories of Magneto, Rogue and Wolverine. A novel adaptation for the film was also released. In 2003, Marvel released a comic-book for X2, which contained prequels detailing Nightcrawler's backstory and Wolverine's time searching for Alkali Lake. Del Rey Books also published novelizations for the first three films; the latter two were written by Chris Claremont. Television series In October 2015, Marvel Television announced that two television series based on X-Men characters, Legion and Hellfire are in development. FX ordered a pilot titled Legion with Noah Hawley attached to write the pilot. It will be produced by FX Productions and Marvel Television. Hawley will also serve as an executive producer along with Lauren Shuler Donner, Bryan Singer, Simon Kinberg, Jeph Loeb, Jim Chory and John Cameron. The show will feature the story of David Haller, whom struggled with mental illness since he was a teenager. Diagnosed as schizophrenic, Haller has been in and out of psychiatric hospitals for years. After a strange encounter with a fellow patient, he's confronted with the possibility that the voices he hears and the visions he sees might be real. Kinberg compared the tone and direction of the show to Breaking Bad. Hellfire meanwhile is in development with Fox Broadcasting Company and will be produced by 20th Century Fox Television and Marvel Television. Set in the late 1960s, the show will follow an agent who learns that a power-hungry woman with "extraordinary" abilities is working with a clandestine society of millionaires, known as the Hellfire Club to take over the world. Evan Katz, Manny Coto, Patrick McKay and JD Payne are credited as the co-creators of the show. McKay and Payne will write the pilot, based on a story by Katz, Coto, McKay and Payne. Donner, Singer, Kinberg, Loeb and Chory are also attached as executive producers alongside Katz and Coto who will serve as showrunners. Video games In July 2000, X-Men: Mutant Academy was released for PlayStation and Game Boy Color. It shared the title fonts and a number of costumes from the first film. The game also contains behind-the-scenes material from the first film. In April 2003, X2: Wolverine's Revenge which served as a tie-in to X2 was released for GameCube, Game Boy Advance, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2 and Xbox. Patrick Stewart served as the voice actor for Professor X. In May 2006, X-Men: The Official Game was released for GameCube, Game Boy Advance, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, Xbox and Xbox 360. The story was set between X2 and X-Men: The Phoenix Saga and also explained Nightcrawler's departure from the X-Men. In May 2009, the video game X-Men Origins: Wolverine based on the film of the same name was released for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Wii and Xbox 360. All four videogames were released by Activision.